2009 New Yorker Festival Schedule Released Today

The “early” yet official 2009 New Yorker Festival schedule was released today and while there a lot of familiar faces (as always), I think this year’s lineup is a lot stronger than last year’s. Highlights of this year’s festival include: Mad Men panel with Matthew Weiner, Lee Clow, Steve Stoute, Brooklyn Playlist concert at The Bell House with Dirty Projectors, A Conversation with Music with and Neko Case and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Inside the Artist’s Studio with Chuck Close and Adam Gopnik, and the Humor Revue with Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach and a host of others. Tickets for The New Yorker Festival will go on sale at 12 noon ET on Friday, September 18, (the shows I just mentioned should sell out almost instantaneously).

Brooklyn Playlist | A Special Concert Featuring Bands from the County of Kings

With Dirty Projectors, House of Ladosha, Jubilee, and Liturgy.
Curated by the New Yorker staff writers Sasha Frere-Jones and Kelefa Sanneh.
8 P.M. The Bell House ($25)

Take Out of School | New Yorker Writers on The New Yorker

The Moth and The New Yorker present an evening of stories about life at the magazine.
With Roger Angell, Adam Gopnik, Ariel Levy, Mark Singer, and Judith Thurman.
Hosted by Andy Borowitz.
8 P.M. City Winery ($40)

Justin Vernon of Bon Iver talks with Sasha-Frere Jones | A Conversation with Music
10 P.M. Acura at Stage37 ($25)

Book Signings

(Please note the schedule of book signings at the bottom of this e-mail.)
12 noon to 6 P.M. McNally Jackson Books (Free)

Sunday | October 18

About Town

Tailing Tilley
A live, interactive game drawing on eighty-four years of New Yorker history.
11 A.M. Galway Hooker ($15)

Morning at the Frick
Peter Schjeldahl will lead a tour of the museum before public hours begin, followed by coffee and conversation.
11 A.M. Frick Collection ($60)

Come Hungry
Calvin Trillin will lead a tasting walk from Greenwich Village to Chinatown, concluding with a dim-sum feast.
11 A.M. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the starting point. ($100)

Strings Attached
Basil Twist will lead a tour of his studio and talk about the puppeteer’s art with Joan Acocella. Drinks will be served.
12 noon. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the location. ($60)

Inside the Artist’s Studio
Chuck Close will show his work and talk with Adam Gopnik at his studio. Drinks will be served.
12 noon. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the location. ($60)

Bottoms Up
Sam Calagione will demonstrate the beer-brewing process and discuss his work with Burkhard Bilger. Tastings, paired with meats and cheeses, will be served.
12 noon. The Gate ($50)

New Yorker Talks

James Surowiecki | Tomorrow Never Comes: Why We Procrastinate and How It Matters
11 A.M. City Winery ($27)

Atul Gawande | The Death of the Master Builder: A Story of Risk, Medicine, and Skyscrapers
1 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre ($27)

(Please note the schedule of book signings at the bottom of this e-mail.)
12 noon to 5 P.M. McNally Jackson Books (Free)

How to Purchase Tickets

Tickets for The New Yorker Festival will go on sale at 12 noon E.T. on Friday, September 18th. There are several ways to purchase tickets:

Online: Get tickets at newyorker.com/festival.

By phone: Call 800-440-6974.

At Ticket HQ: Ten per cent of tickets to all events will be available at Cedar Lake Theatre, at 547 West 26th Street (between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues).
Tickets will be sold on Friday, October 16th, from 12 noon to 4 P.M. First come, first served.

At the door: A limited number of tickets will be sold at the door to each event one hour before start time, with the exception of Morning at the Frick, Come Hungry, Strings Attached, Inside the Artist’s Studio, and Bottoms Up. First come, first served. Cash only.

5 P.M.
Robert Mankoff – “On the Money: The Economy in Cartoons, 1925-2009”

SUNDAY | OCTOBER 18
12 noon
Tad Friend – “Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor”
David Grann – “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon”

1 P.M.
John Cassidy – “How Markets Fail: The Economics of Rational Irrationality”
Paul Goldberger – “Why Architecture Matters” and “Building Up and Tearing Down:
Reflections on the Age of Architecture”